Washington (CNN)Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe was chosen Wednesday by both him and former FBI Director James Comey. He said the investigation should be started on whether it was done. Internal Revenue Service for intensive tax audits.
"It's unreasonable to think that other factors aren't involved," McCabe told CNN's Laura Coates on "Don Lemon Tonight," which he was "incredibly strict." The process of "breaking nerves".
"I think it's a reasonable question. I think it needs to be investigated. People need to trust government agencies, so there should be some. You have to dig into this. I have to. What happened? "He continued.
McCabe told CNN that he was unaware of Comey's audit when he was notified by the IRS.
Comey tells the Times that he and his wife overpaid 2017 federal income tax and received a $ 347 refund for an audit he knew in 2019 when Trump took office. I concluded that. McCabe said a 2021 audit focused on his return in 2019 found that he and his wife were borrowing a small amount of money for the "surveillance" they paid.
Trump's appointed person, Charles Retig, has been leading the IRS since 2018. Authorities said in a statement to the Times that they had no role in selecting candidates for audit.
Trump and Comey were similarly turbulent. In a surprising move, Trump fired Comey as FBI Director in May 2017, triggering the appointment of a special counsel. Trump called Comey a "liar" and a "leaker", suggesting that his actions were rebellious. Comey accused Trump of being a stain on American democracy.
"I don't know if something wrong happened, but after knowing how rare this audit was and how badly Trump wanted to hurt me in the meantime, I tried to understand it. It makes sense to do, "Commy said in a statement to the Times. "It may be a coincidence, or someone may have abused the I.R.S. to confront political enemies. Given the role Trump wants to continue playing in our country, we should know the answer to that question."
The IRS denied "political motivated audits" in a statement to CNN Wednesday evening. "Federal privacy law prohibits discussing the circumstances of certain taxpayers. Audits are handled by career civilians, and the IRS is powerful in protecting the testing process and protecting it from politically motivated audits. We have a lot of safeguards, "said the statement.
"It is ridiculously untrue to suggest that senior IRS officials have somehow targeted certain individuals subject to audits in national research programs," the tax authorities added.
CNN has contacted Trump's representative for comment. "I don't know about this," the former president said in a statement to the Times through a spokesman.
McCabe said in a CNN statement, "The IRS investigator I was in charge of was always professional and responsive, but I have questions about how they were selected for this audit." I am.
